tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post1958366231528131719..comments2023-12-18T17:32:03.325+00:00Comments on Kindred of the Quiet Way: Saying what cannot be saidUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-34842969268916050842019-01-29T07:08:13.730+00:002019-01-29T07:08:13.730+00:00The publishers are often the best judges of what t...The publishers are often the best judges of what the gatekeepers in the marketplace will stand. The thing is, there are some large church groups and associated retail chains who will not hesitate to bring down and entire publishing house and all its writers if they object to something in one of the books it publishes — they exert power by threat of boycott. It is frustrating for a writer who already feels a compromise has been made in choosing such words as "darn" or "shoot", to be told that won't do either!<br />There are some issues on which I won't budge (matters of moral principle rather than aesthetic), but in the main I feel that it's a test of my ability as a writer to go and think of ways round the difficulty. Another possible way forward is to self publish — or write for the mainstream marketplace, where you can say what you like. Or look for a UK publisher, where the lines of acceptability are somewhat differently drawn. May your writing flourish!Pen Wilcockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13818227904371811230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-20890288588278783622019-01-28T19:11:31.752+00:002019-01-28T19:11:31.752+00:00Hi Penelope
Many,many years ago I attempted to wri...Hi Penelope<br />Many,many years ago I attempted to write fiction for the Christian market. I attended writer's groups and seminars to gain knowledge about getting published, and there I found out that certain US publishers of Christian fiction would not allow the words "darn" or "shoot" in a manuscript, because they were representational of something they deemed worse! That just told me I would have to stifle my character's reality to a point that would stifle my own creativity and ability to tell my/their stories. I abandoned my efforts to write for publication, and have only rather recently begun to consider submitting some of my work for possible publication again. Good thing I enjoy the process, there may never be a product for anyone but myself to read!<br />DMW Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-28414246469520432562019-01-28T19:07:56.717+00:002019-01-28T19:07:56.717+00:00Oh, well done, Pratchett! To say what you mean wit...Oh, well done, Pratchett! To say what you mean without dragging us all through the endurance of every graphic detail.<br />Bedsprings — reminds me of S.J.Perelman: " "Love is not the dying moan of a distant violin — it's the triumphant twang of a bedspring" - S. J. Perelman." Pen Wilcockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13818227904371811230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-36627568183828050292019-01-28T12:56:06.004+00:002019-01-28T12:56:06.004+00:00I wouldn't have noticed that 'gong' wo...I wouldn't have noticed that 'gong' would be unfamiliar terminology to most people! History is a normal subject of conversation in our house.<br /><br />I hate sex scenes, especially when they seem gratuitous (which is about 95% of the time). They're as bad as watching close ups of people eating. Embarrassingly intimate and quite disgusting. I'm a bit contrary, though, in that I want to know that the characters are sexually involved without being given the intimate details of it.<br /><br />There's a superb moment in one of Terry Pratchett's books (he was very shy of sex scenes, thank God) in which he says that two characters closed the door and then the bedsprings went 'gloing' - a reference set up earlier in the book, making the moment humorous, tender and private. Also moving the story and characters on enormously in only a sentence or two.Buzzfloydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10907833292561328868noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-70032726725405596322019-01-27T15:41:57.827+00:002019-01-27T15:41:57.827+00:00No! How weird is that?! One of those days when you...No! How weird is that?! One of those days when you think, "Well the Universe is clearly speaking to me, but . . . er . . . what the hey?"Pen Wilcockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13818227904371811230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-85082242541799063972019-01-27T13:18:41.361+00:002019-01-27T13:18:41.361+00:00One of those oddities of life ..
After reading th...One of those oddities of life .. <br />After reading this I caught up on Twitter, only to find QI had defined the word gong (A gong farmer’s job was to dig out excrement from cesspits and privies in Tudor England).Rachel marshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10286635531675798169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-86035273900171005052019-01-27T08:46:02.711+00:002019-01-27T08:46:02.711+00:00Interesting. In our mass-media world I think the p...Interesting. In our mass-media world I think the predilections of a percentage are possibly imposed on a large body of reluctant recipients!Pen Wilcockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13818227904371811230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-42330636009354095542019-01-27T01:49:29.318+00:002019-01-27T01:49:29.318+00:00I am like you. I don't need to read or hear or...I am like you. I don't need to read or hear or see sexual relationships.Suzannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-47540788283551558572019-01-26T17:00:16.267+00:002019-01-26T17:00:16.267+00:00:0D
Thank, you Greta! I'm so pleased you like...:0D<br /><br />Thank, you Greta! I'm so pleased you liked that story! xxPen Wilcockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13818227904371811230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-37432089826042868792019-01-26T14:28:09.912+00:002019-01-26T14:28:09.912+00:00lucky me, i was able to snag a copy of the UK vers...lucky me, i was able to snag a copy of the UK version of 'the clear light of day.' that final scene was one of the loveliest and most romantic that i've ever encountered. simply beautiful!gretanoreply@blogger.com